Polaris 26

Polaris is a fan run convention and has been going solidly for 26 years. It is a quieter more intimate affair than the wondrous eye-dazzler that is Fan Expo.

This year, Sue and I were offered media passes to the event thanks to the show’s head of media Evelina Kuczer, and were delighted to attend it not only as fans, but as bloggers (some people have called us journalists and critics, I’m now quite sure I’m comfortable with either term applying to us yet).

We were able to wander the dealer’s room, and chat with fans and retailer, all of whom had stories and passions to share.

We were also fortunate enough to be invited to the press conferences that were set up for Media. So in addition to the podcast with the awesome Miracle Laurie (Dollhouse) that we posted yesterday, over the next couple weeks, we’ll have a chat with Continuum and Once Upon A Time star Tony Amendola as well as J.G. Hertzler and Robert O’Reilly, known to Star Trek fans around the globe as the Klingons Martok and Gowron respectively.

Along with the guests, which also featured the iconic Wil Wheaton (Next Generation, Big Bang Theory), some of the best things about conventions are the costumes, and the merch. And there were tons of both on hand this weekend. There were Klingons, Borg, Whovians of all manners, Daleks, Ripley, Kaylee, Kirks, Picards, Clone Troopers, Jedi…

And there was also a number of toon characters walking around as well, including Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, seen to the left.

I always delight in the costumes, some of them truly are amazing, and show, time, care, attention to detail, and a love of their subject, as illustrated by one of the best Kirks (circa The Wrath of Khan) I have ever seen to the right. The guy even had the right hair!

This of course leads to the always impressive, and amazing masquerade, where the costumes are taken to a while new level, verging, in some cases on the level of art! Simply amazing and stunning, and always fun to watch.

As mentioned, the Dealer’s Room is always fun, and we had time to chat with some of the fantastic creators found within.

One table I really loved was called Baby’s First Boo (check out their site here). There are just some sweet and cool blankets and bags that I am tempted to buy, kid or not!

At this con, Doctor Who and related material tend to be really big, as does the ever-growing sub-genre of steampunk. At some point, even I am going to buy a pair of tricked out goggles. Some really cool things could be seen at the Lucid Steam table., whom you can email at lucidsteam@gmail.com. Whether or not you like this particular sub-genre you have to admit that they have some pretty cool stuff.

Also on hand were our good friends from Pixel Barrel, who always have awesome stuff, especially Doctor Who! Which they go on expeditions to the UK for to get the latest and greatest.

One of the things that this con does boast, are a number of fan run panels, where they can discuss everything from “Where you were and what you thought about The Next Generation when it first started back in ’87” (I know exactly where I was and how excited I was for it) to discussing “Netflix as a First Run Content Provider.” Some of the discussions are healthy, smart and reasoned out, while others, no matter how strongly the panelists try to keep things on target things can spiral into a madhouse, a madhouse!! (Movie ref fro you there)

Each of the celebrity guests was given time on stage to field questions from their fans, and once again, due to its size, it was a fun and intimate setting. They also made sure to have lots of time for autographs, and the always enjoyable photo ops. I do like seeing what some people come up with in terms of poses, and most celebrity guests are all for it (you should see our Michael Hogan pic from a couple of years ago).

It was a wonderfully fun weekend, and we’ll be patiently waiting to see what the folks at Polaris come up with next!